Timing skew mismatch calibration for time interleaved analog to digital converters

ABSTRACT

A time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) includes a first sub-ADC configured to sample and convert an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal and a second sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal. Sampling by the second sub-ADC occurs with a time skew mismatch. A multiplexor interleaves the first and second digital signals to generate a third digital signal. A time skew mismatch error determination circuit processes the first and second digital signals to generate a time error corresponding to the time skew mismatch. A slope value of said third digital signal is determined and multiplied by the time error to generate a signal error. The signal error is summed with the third digital signal to generate a digital output signal which eliminates the error due to the time skew mismatch. This correction is performed in real time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from United States Provisional Application for Patent No. 63/043,433 filed Jun. 24, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to time interleaved analog to digital converters (TI-ADCs) and, in particular, to a calibration process and circuit configured to address timing skew mismatch.

BACKGROUND

An analog to digital converter (ADC) circuit is a commonly used circuit in many applications where a signal must be converted from the analog domain to the digital domain. It is recognized that certain applications require higher sampling speeds for the conversion process. For example, high-resolution and high-speed analog to digital conversion is essential in broadband communications systems. Such higher sampling speeds, for example at a sampling rate Fs, can be efficiently achieved by interleaving N ADC circuits and having each of the N ADC circuits sample at a sampling rate of f_(s)=Fs/N. The outputs of the N ADC circuits are then time interleaved to produce a cumulative output.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit 10. The circuit 10 includes N analog to digital (ADC) converters 12(1)-12(N) (also referred to in the art as sub-ADCs). The analog input signal 14 to be converted to the digital domain is applied to N sample and hold (S/H) circuits 16(1)-16(N). Each sample and hold circuit 16 is receives a corresponding sampling clock 18(1)-18(N), and the sampling clocks 18 each have a sampling frequency of f_(s) but are uniformly phase offset from each other across a clock period T; for example, with a phase offset of T/N (see, FIG. 2 ). Each ADC converter 12 operates to convert the sampled analog signal 20 produced by the S/H circuit 16 to generate an L-bit digital signal 22. A selector circuit 24, also referred to in the art as a multiplexor, operating at the rate Fs, sequentially selects the L-bit digital signals 22(1)-22(N) for interleaving samples of the L-bit digital signals 22 to generate the cumulative digital output signal 26 (see, FIG. 2 ).

Assuming that the ADC converters 12 are perfectly matched and the sampling clocks 18 are perfectly phase offset, the TI-ADC circuit 10 operates seamlessly like a single high-speed analog to digital converter circuit at the sampling rate Fs. In practice, however, there exists a mismatch in offset, gain, bandwidth and/or sample timing. Such mismatches cause conversion errors and introduce spurs in the cumulative digital output signal 26. Of particular interest is the mismatch in timing (phase offset) for the sampling clocks 18 which is referred to in the art as a timing skew mismatch. Unlike static errors of gain and offset that can be estimated and corrected in the analog or digital domain, timing skew errors in high speed ADCs are of the order of sub-pico seconds and are hard to correct. Worse still, the skew-related errors are caused by misalignment of sampling clock for the sub-ADCs, which generates spurs proportional to the frequency of input signals and hence become a primary concern in implementing a high-speed TI-ADC.

The prior art teaches timing-skew calibration algorithms for interleaved ADCs to correct timing error in both the analog domain and the digital domain. The drawbacks of analog correction include a feedback-induced stability hazard and jitter introduced by a controlled delay line. Digital-domain correction takes advantage of technology scaling but the complex time-skew estimation and slope-extraction filter limits signal bandwidth. Reported convergence time is over 50,000 cycles for contemporary hardware intensive statistical methods and this places undesirable constraints on input signal type and bandwidth.

There is accordingly a need in the art for an improved technique to calibrate the time skew mismatches in the TI-ADC circuit and correct for errors introduced by the time skew mismatches.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) comprises: a first sub-ADC configured to sample and convert an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; a second sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a time skew mismatch; a multiplexor configured to interleave the first and second digital signals to generate a third digital signal; a time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit configured to process the first and second digital signals to generate a time error corresponding to said time skew mismatch; a slope extraction circuit configured to process the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; a multiplication circuit configured to multiply the time error by the slope value to generate a signal error; and a summation circuit configured to sum the signal error with the third digital signal to generate a digital output signal.

In an embodiment, a time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) comprises: a first sub-ADC configured to sample and convert an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; a second sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a first time skew mismatch; a third sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a third digital signal, wherein sampling by said third sub-ADC occurs with a second time skew mismatch; a first multiplexor configured to interleave the first, second and third digital signals to generate a fourth digital signal; a first time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit configured to process the first and second digital signals to generate a first time error corresponding to said first time skew mismatch; a second TSME determination circuit configured to process the first and third digital signals to generate a second time error corresponding to said second time skew mismatch; a second multiplexor configured to interleave the first and second time errors generate a time error signal; a slope extraction circuit configured to process the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; a multiplication circuit configured to multiply the time error signal by the slope value to generate a signal error; and a summation circuit configured to sum the signal error with the fourth digital signal to generate a digital output signal.

In an embodiment, a method for time-interleaved analog to digital conversion, comprises: sampling and converting an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; sampling and converting said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a time skew mismatch; interleaved selecting of the first and second digital signals to generate a third digital signal; determining from the first and second digital signals a time error corresponding to said time skew mismatch; processing the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; multiplying the time error by the slope value to generate a signal error; and summing the signal error with the third digital signal to generate a digital output signal

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the embodiments, reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit;

FIG. 2 shows a timing diagram for operation of the TI-ADC circuit of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows a model of a TI-ADC circuit;

FIG. 4 illustrates the sampled waveform for the model of FIG. 3 ;

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate spectra for the signals of the model of FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 8 illustrates the sampled waveform for the model of FIG. 3 with a timing skew mismatch;

FIG. 9 shows spectra illustrating the presence of spurious images due to the timing skew mismatch;

FIG. 10 shows a model of a TI-ADC circuit as shown in FIG. 1 where there exists a time skew mismatch;

FIG. 11 illustrates the time skew error in terms of the number of interpolated samples;

FIG. 12 shows a model of a TI-ADC circuit as shown in FIG. 1 and includes an estimator configured to estimate a time skew mismatch error;

FIG. 13 illustrates interpolated sample relationship with the time skew mismatch;

FIG. 14 illustrates a matrix operation for deriving the polyphase banks;

FIG. 15 illustrates a three bank implementation of a polyphase filter;

FIG. 16 illustrates the erroneous TI-ADC output described by a first order error model;

FIG. 17 illustrates slope extraction for the erroneous TI-ADC output;

FIG. 18 illustrates a matrix operation for deriving a polyphase bank filter;

FIGS. 19-20 show spectra for TI-ADC circuit output without and with, respectively, time skew mismatch error correction;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a TI-ADC circuit with time skew mismatch error correction functionality; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit of the TI-ADC circuit of FIG. 21 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is made to FIG. 3 showing a model 100 of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit 10 as shown in FIG. 1 where N=2. The selection of N=2 is made by way of a simplified example, but it will be understood that the following description is extendable by one skilled in the art to any suitable integer value of N. Two analog to digital converters 12 with sample and hold circuits 16 each operate at the sampling rate f_(s). The sampling clocks 18 have a period T but are phase shifted in time by T/2. The analog input 12 to the system 10 is a continuous time analog input x(t) which is sampled by the sample and hold circuits 16 for the sub-ADCs 12 in a back to back manner at time instances kT and (k+½)T, respectively, where k is an integer. The ensuing sampled waveform of the continuous time analog input x(t) by each of the sample and hold circuits 16(1) and 16(2) is shown in FIG. 4 and samples can be seen as being even (for example, designated by dots and labeled as x_(A1)(n)) samples and odd (for example, designated by squares and labeled as x_(A2)(n)) samples that are interleaved in time. The Discrete Time Fourier Transform (DTFT) of the even and odd samples from the continuous time analog input x(t) at the A1 and A2 outputs can be shown to be:

${{X_{A1}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{X\left( {\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}}}}{{X_{A2}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{{X\left( {\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}e^{{j({\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}T/2}}}}}$

The digitized ADC outputs A1 and A2 are aliased versions of the continuous time analog input signal x(t). These outputs are further up-sampled by a factor of N=2 to match the sub-ADC output rate with the rate of the TI-ADC system (Fs=2f_(s)). Post rate conversion, the ADC outputs B1 and B2 become:

${{X_{B1}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{X\left( {\frac{2\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}}}}{{X_{B2}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{{X\left( {\frac{2\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}e^{{j({\frac{2\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}T/2}}}}}$

A sample delay e^(−jω) on output B2 (provided by delay z⁻¹) followed by a summation of the delayed output B3 with the output B1 emulates the TI-ADC output multiplexing operation performed by the selector circuit 24. The output B3 is the delayed version of B2 with a frequency domain representation:

${X_{B3}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{{X\left( {\frac{2\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}{e^{{- j}\pi k}.}}}}$

The spectra of the outputs B1 and B3, which are shown by FIGS. 5 and 6 , respectively, exhibit heavy aliasing. This aliasing, however, is eventually cancelled out by the multiplexing operation performed by the selector 24. As multiplexing of discrete-time signals is equivalent to addition (see, FIG. 3 reference 30), the alias spectral copies around ±f_(s) cancel each other in X_(B1)(f)+X_(B3)(f) thus yielding a scaled original signal 2X(f) as shown in FIG. 7 . Such cancellation is akin to image rejection in RF receivers, and this highlights and emphasizes the need for a precise matching requirement of the sub-ADCs in the TI-ADC circuit.

In a TI-ADC, skew mismatches appear when the sampling instants of the sub-ADCs are not perfectly matched. For an N=2 sub-ADC implementation of the TI-ADC circuit, the second sub-ADC ideally samples exactly T/2 seconds after the first sub-ADC, which makes the overall sampling scheme uniform in time. In practice, however, technology variations or layout imperfections can reduce or increase the sampling interval between consecutive sub-ADCs.

Normally, in this example using two sub-ADCs, the sub-ADCs sample the signal at times kT and (k+½)T, but because of the mismatches, a positive or negative sampling clock timing offset ΔT causes non-uniform sampling of the input signal x(t) as shown in FIG. 8 . Consequently, for a two sub-ADC system, time-skew mismatches yield uncancelled residue aliases of the input signal spectrum around frequency multiples of f_(s)/2 which manifest as undesirable spurious artifacts at the TI-ADC system output. FIG. 8 illustrates the effect of time-skew mismatch in the time domain. FIG. 9 illustrates the effect of time-skew mismatch in the frequency domain. The key task is to eliminate the spurious images as shown in FIG. 9 which are caused by this undesired sampling clock timing offset ΔT.

A time-skew mismatch calibration technique is proposed herein that performs a direct estimation of the sub-ADCs sampling clock timing offsets. This approach stands out from the state of the art techniques that often rely on statistical based estimation such as cross-correlation and autocovariance functions. The proposed time-skew calibration operates in the background, and thus is performed in parallel with the normal operations for time-interleaved ADC, while assuming that the offset and gain mismatches have already been removed by other means (such as is known to those skilled in the art).

The proposed calibration is performed in two phases: A) estimating each sub-ADC's sampling clock timing offset ΔT with respect to a reference sub-ADC, and B) correcting each sub-ADC's output signal based on the result of the estimation.

An assumption is made here that the timing offsets are small. This allows for linearizing the delay transfer function. The correction of each sub-ADC's output signal is accomplished through linear interpolation based on the timing offset estimates and the instantaneous signal derivative.

A) Estimation of the Timing Offset:

Timing skew mismatches shift positively or negatively the sub-ADC sampling times, and therefore also create a small error in the sampled value. If a sub-ADC has a small positive timing offset, the error on the sampled value is positive if the slope of the signal is locally positive. Conversely, if sub-ADC has a small negative timing offset, the error on the sampled value is negative if the slope of the signal is locally negative.

Reference is made to FIG. 10 showing a model 102 of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit 10 as shown in FIG. 1 where N=2 and where there exists a time skew mismatch. Again, the selection of N=2 is made by way of a simplified example, but it will be understood that the following description is extendable by one skilled in the art to any suitable integer value of N. Two analog to digital converters 12 with sample and hold circuits 16 each operate at the sampling rate f_(s). A first one of the converters 12(1) is referred to as the reference sub-ADC in a reference ADC channel, and a second one of the converters 12(2) suffers from the time skew mismatch and is referred to as another sub-ADC in another ADC channel. The sampling clocks 18 have a period T and are ideally phase shifted in time by T/2, but due to time skew mismatch the continuous time analog input x(t) 12 to the system 10 is sampled by the sample and hold circuits 16 for the sub-ADCs 12 back to back at time instances kT and (k+½)(T+ΔT), where k is an integer and ΔT is the sampling clock timing offset (or time skew mismatch). The ensuing sampled waveform by the sample and hold circuits is shown in FIG. 8 . The Discrete Time Fourier Transform (DTFT) of the even and odd samples from the continuous time analog input x(t) at A1′ and A2′ can be shown to be:

${{X_{A1^{\prime}}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{X\left( {\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}}}}{{X_{A2^{\prime}}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{{X\left( {\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}e^{{j({\frac{\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}{({T + {\Delta T}})}/2}}}}}$

The sub-ADC sampled outputs A1′ and A2′ are further interpolated by a factor of M, where M is substantially greater than N (by a factor of a hundred or a thousand, for example). The interpolation operation is represented as an up-sampler followed by an image attenuating low pass filter H(z). Post interpolation, outputs B1′ and B2′ can be shown to be:

${{{X_{B1^{\prime}}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{X\left( {\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}}}}}{{X_{B2^{\prime}}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{{X\left( {\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}e^{{j({\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}{({T + {\Delta T}})}/2}}}}}$

It will be noted that post digitization, B2′ suffers a misalignment of ΔT which is quantified in integral multiples of T/M. Prior to the output multiplexor, B3′ results from B2′ shifted by z^(−M/2) samples at rate Mf_(s) which corresponds to an absolute time shift of T/2 with respect to the reference sub-ADC:

${X_{B3^{\prime}}\left( e^{j\omega} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{k}{\left\lbrack {{X\left( {\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}} \right)}e^{{- j}\pi k}} \right\rbrack e^{{j({\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}\Delta T/2}}}}$

The foregoing equation contains an undesired phase shift error

$e^{{j({\frac{M\omega}{T} - \frac{2\pi k}{T}})}\Delta T/2}$ term that occurs due to the sampling clock timing offset (time skew mismatch) ΔT in the second sub-ADC 12(2) causing a non-uniform sampled output at the TI-ADC system.

In order to calculate the undesired time shift error ΔT, the phase shift error is evaluated at k=0 to obtain

$e^{j{\omega(\frac{M\Delta T}{2T})}}$ which essentially is a p sample delay at rate Mf_(s):

${\Delta T} = {p\left( \frac{T}{M} \right)}$

From the foregoing equation, the time shift error ΔT can be quantified as an integral multiple of T/M. Therefore, by choosing M to be sufficiently large, ΔT can be estimated very accurately. FIG. 11 illustrates the sampling clock timing offset ΔT at B2′ and B3′ with respect to B1′ in terms of the number of interpolated samples (referred to herein as p).

The foregoing analysis demonstrates that interpolated samples from the sub-ADCs can be used to compute the sampling clock timing offset (time skew mismatch) ΔT accurately with high precision. In a digital circuit, computation resources are limited, and it is desired that the implementation of this estimation operation be optimized in hardware. If the value for M is kept large, then heavy filtering would be required for achieving high interpolation ratios. To address this concern, a polyphase interpolation process is implemented by the estimator.

Reference is made to FIG. 12 showing a model 104 of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit 10 as shown in FIG. 1 where N=2 and further including an estimator 106 configured to estimate the sampling clock timing offset ΔT. Again, the selection of N=2 is made by way of a simplified example, but it will be understood that the following description is extendable by one skilled in the art to any suitable integer value of N. The output of the reference sub-ADC 12(1) is interpolated by a factor of M (where M may, for example, have a value of 5,000). The interpolation operation is represented as an up-sampler followed by a low pass filtering operation using polyphase interpolation filter banks H_(p)(z). Multiple x_(i) samples at rate Mf_(s) from the polyphase interpolation filter banks H_(p)(z) are then continuously compared with x_(j) samples from the second sub-AC 12(2) using a comparator circuit 110 to deduce p which represents a number of interpolated samples between the x_(i) sample at time T/2 and the x_(i) sample at time T/2+ΔT whose value substantially matches the value of the x_(j) sample from the second sub-AC 12(2) taken at time T/2+ΔT (see, FIG. 13 ). More specifically, the comparator circuit 110 processes the interpolated x_(i) samples generated from the polyphase interpolation filter banks H_(p)(z) to identify which one of those interpolated samples most closely matches the x_(j) sample from the second sub-AC 12(2). The number of samples between that identified sample and the sample at time T/2 is indicative of the timing skew mismatch ΔT.

It will be noted that the sampling clock timing offset (timing skew mismatch) ΔT is small and typically a small fraction of the sample clock time period T. It can thus be safely stated, as shown in FIG. 13 , that interpolated samples in near proximity of the interpolated sample x_(i)(n/2) which is at time T/2 shifted from the reference sub-ADC 12(1) would suffice to quantify the timing skew mismatch ΔT of the sample x_(j)(n) which is at time T/2+ΔT shifted from the second sub-ADC 12(2). This assumption/observation aids in designing the polyphase interpolation banks H_(p)(z) so that not all M polyphase filter banks are needed, but rather only a small subset of the banks are used. For an r tap FIR interpolating filter, there exist a total of M polyphase filter banks with each bank comprising

$\frac{r}{M}$ coefficients. It is proposed to limit the number of polyphase filter banks to 2m+1 (with 2m<<M), where m depends on the system's maximum time-skew specification. For example, if time period of TI-ADC clock T=1 ns (nano second) with expected maximum time-skew ΔT_(max)=500 fs (femto second) and required correction resolution for ΔT is 100 fs, then M=10000 and m=5. This is because the maximum deviation of ΔT_(max) will be ±500 fs from the ideal sample, and the best case correction requirement is within 100 fs. So m=500/100. Thus, there is no need to implement all 10000 polyphase filter banks (M), but rather only 11 polyphase filter banks (2m+1) need to be implemented. For the dual TI-ADC under discussion as an example, the polyphase banks can be derived from the matrix operation illustrated in FIG. 14 .

It is advantageous that H_(p)(z) is a small subset of the M possible polyphase filter banks. FIG. 15 illustrates an example three bank H_(p)(z) implementation for m=1. It is to be noted that the native output rate of an interpolate by M filter is Mf_(s), and this implies that the filter generates M outputs per input x(n). Now, because of reduced polyphase bank realizations in the proposed implementation, the number of output samples per interpolation cycle is only 2m+1, thus reducing the estimator computation burden significantly.

B) Correction of the Timing Offset:

Once the sampling clock timing offset ΔT has been accurately estimated, it is used at the TI-ADC system output to correct the time-skewed sample values from the second sub-ADC 12(2). FIG. 16 illustrates a zoomed section of the erroneous TI-ADC output y_(e)(n) with error ϵ described by a first order error model:

$\epsilon = {\Delta T\frac{dy_{e}}{dt}}$

If the delay ΔT is sufficiently small, the original sample can be recovered from the skewed sample by following the tangent of the signal around the sample to be corrected (linear interpolation). The instantaneous error ϵ can be extracted and subsequently be corrected by a simple calculation for every other sample output of the TI-ADC. In other words, the original sample y(n) can be recovered from the delayed sample y_(e)(n) by adding it to an error term ϵ described earlier:

${y(n)} = {{y_{e}(n)} + {\Delta T\frac{dy_{e}}{dt}}}$

The derived reconstruction of the foregoing equation requires knowledge about the signal derivative. The first order signal derivative on any point of the signal is a tangent at that point. It is proposed to use a high rate interpolation filter at the TI-ADC output to compute an adjacent point in the nearest neighborhood of the output samples. This adjacent point is used along with the original sample to evaluate the slope at that instant. As explained in above discussion of A) Estimation of the timing offset, selective polyphase banks can be deployed to compute partial interpolation values as per requirements. The present need for a single sample derivative mandates only a single polyphase bank implementation which is used to compute the neighboring sample. For an r′ tap FIR interpolate by M′ filter, these coefficients are shown in FIG. 18 .

It follows that a single polyphase bank filter H_(d)(z) is sufficient to compute the instantaneous gradient of any point at the TI-ADC output y_(e)[n]. Although, the slope computation occurs at full output rate, computation requirements are greatly relaxed and limited to implementing a single polyphase filter bank. FIG. 17 illustrates the slope evaluation at the output rate 2M′f_(s) using y_(e)[n] and the calculated interpolated value

${y_{e}\left\lbrack {n + \frac{n}{M^{\prime}}} \right\rbrack}.$ The instantaneous slope is given by:

$\frac{dy_{e}}{dt} = {{y_{e}\left\lbrack {n + \frac{n}{M^{\prime}}} \right\rbrack} - {y_{e}\lbrack n\rbrack}}$

The proposed correction technique effectively computes the instantaneous slope and uses it to correct the amplitude error in each sample. All this is easily implementable in real time with minimal hardware resources.

Evaluation

In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed estimation and correction technique described above, a dual TI-ADC system with a timing skew mismatch is implemented in MATLAB. A full-scale 12-bit multi-tone signal with an integrated noise of −60 dB till Nyquist is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique. The multi-tone signal is sampled at 1 GHz by the TI-ADC system and a timing skew mismatch of 1 pS is introduced in one of the sub-ADCs. The uncorrected output spectrum is illustrated in FIG. 19 . The presence of unwanted in-band spurs limits the system SFDR (Spurious Free Dynamic Range) to −55.8 dB. Next, the proposed estimation and correction methods are applied to the impaired input samples. FIG. 20 shows the spectrum of the TI-ADC using the proposed calibration technique for 5,000 sampling clock cycles. The alias image spurs are greatly reduced to −70.1 dB, which presents an improvement of over 15 dB. The proposed calibration method is thus shown to be able to rapidly track and correct sub-pico second time-skew delays and significantly improve TI-ADC performance.

Implementation

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of a time interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC) circuit 200. The circuit 200 includes N analog to digital (ADC) converters 212(1)-212(N) (also referred to in the art as sub-ADCs). The analog input signal 214 to be converted to the digital domain is applied to N sample and hold (S/H) circuits 216(1)-216(N). Each sample and hold circuit 216 receives a corresponding sampling clock 218(1)-218(N), and the sampling clocks 218 have a sampling frequency of f_(s). Each ADC converter 212 operates to convert the sampled analog signal 220 produced by the S/H circuit 216 to generate an L-bit digital signal 222. A selector circuit 224, also referred to in the art as a multiplexor, operating at the rate Fs (where: Fs=N*f_(s)) sequentially selects samples of the the M-bit digital signals 222(1)-222(N) for interleaving to generate a cumulative digital output signal 226.

While the sampling clocks 218(1)-218(N) are ideally uniformly phase offset from each other across a clock period T; for example, with a phase offset of T/N, in reality there is likely to be a time skew mismatch. In this context, the sampling clock 218(1) for the reference ADC channel including S/H circuit 216(1) and ADC converter 212(1) is considered as the reference from which the time skew mismatches for the other sampling clocks 218(2)-218(N) are determined. The sampling clock 218(1) causes sampling of the input by the reference ADC channel to occur at specified instances, while the sampling clock 218(N) causes sampling of the input by the Nth ADC channel to occur at phase shifted instances with a ΔT time skew mismatch. A time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit 221 is provided for each of the ADC channels other than the reference ADC channel. Each TSME determination circuit receives the output (A1′) of the ADC converter 212(1) for the reference ADC channel as well as the output (A(_)′) of the ADC converter 212 for the particular ADC channel having the time skew mismatch of its sampling clock 218. The TSME determination circuit 221 performs the process A) described herein for making an estimation of the timing offset ΔT(_).

The timing offset results ΔT(_) for each ADC channel (other than the reference channel) are input to a selector circuit 238, also referred to in the art as a multiplexor, operating at the rate Fs (where: Fs=N*f_(s)) which sequentially selects the timing offset ΔT(_) in correspondence with its M-bit digital signal 222(_). The process B) described herein for calculating the error term ϵ is performed using circuitry which processes the cumulative digital output signal 226 using a slope extraction circuit 240 to obtain the derivative

$\frac{dy_{e}}{dt}.$ The slope circuit implements a single polyphase bank filter H_(d)(z) to compute the instantaneous gradient of any point at the TI-ADC output A(_)′ 222 (signal y_(e)[n]) within the cumulative digital output signal 226.

With knowledge of the instantaneous slope

$\frac{dy_{e}}{dt}$ and the time shift error ΔT, an error term ϵ(N) which can correct the time-skewed sample values from the sub-ADC 212(N) is determined using a multiplication circuit 242 as follows:

${\epsilon(N)} = {\Delta T\frac{dy_{e}}{dt}}$

A summation circuit 244 then adds the error term ϵ(N) to the corresponding time-skewed sample value (i.e., the TI-ADC output A(_)′ 222 from the sub-ADC 212(N)) for correcting the error in the generated digital output signal.

Reference is now made to FIG. 22 which shows a block diagram for the TSME determination circuit 221. The output A1′ of the ADC converter 212(1) for the reference ADC channel is interpolated using an upsampling by M (reference 230) followed by a filtering (reference 232) using polyphase interpolation filter banks H_(p)(z) to produce the x_(i) samples. Multiple x_(i) samples at rate Mf_(s) from the polyphase interpolation filter banks H_(p)(z) are then continuously compared (reference 110) with an x_(j) sample for the output A(_)′, signal 222, from the non-reference sub-AC 212(_) using a comparator circuit 110 to deduce p which provides the number of interpolated samples indicated of the time offset. The polyphase filter H_(p)(z) is tuned to include only a small subset of the M possible interpolation filter banks such that filtering is made so as to only produce the 2m+1 x_(i) samples which are in the neighborhood of the sample x_(i)(n/2) (T/2 time shifted). As the period T of the clock is known and further as the interpolation value M is known, the estimation of the time shift error ΔT for the sampling clock 218(N) is then calculated by an error estimation circuit 236 from the value p using the equation:

${\Delta T} = {p\left( \frac{T}{M} \right)}$

The all-digital background calibration technique disclosed herein for time-skew mismatch correction in TI-ADCs presents a number of advantages over prior art solutions: a) the non-iterative technique is not based on any contemporary statistical approaches and converges very rapidly; b) the technique is independent of the nature of the input signal and places no constraints on the input signal bandwidth; c) the technique is very effective method in estimating a wide range of timing offsets using low hardware resources; d) the first order linear model for correction works well for small time-skews and may be better approximated for larger skews; d) the calibration method can easily be extended to any channel TI-ADC system; and e) the process is performed in real time to make the correction.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC), comprising: a first sub-ADC configured to sample and convert an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; a second sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a time skew mismatch; a multiplexor configured to interleave the first and second digital signals to generate a third digital signal; a time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit configured to process the first and second digital signals to generate a time error corresponding to said time skew mismatch; a slope extraction circuit configured to process the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; a multiplication circuit configured to multiply the time error by the slope value to generate a signal error; and a summation circuit configured to sum the signal error with the third digital signal to generate a digital output signal.
 2. The TI-ADC of claim 1, wherein the first and second sub-ADCs each sample at a sub-sample rate of a converter sample rate, but sample with a phase offset that is a function of a number of sub-ADCs which are included in the TI-ADC.
 3. The TI-ADC of claim 2, wherein the multiplexor interleaves the first and second digital signals at the converter sample rate.
 4. The TI-ADC of claim 1, wherein the slope extraction circuit determines the slope value for second digital signal samples within said third digital signal.
 5. The TI-ADC of claim 4, wherein the summation circuit sums the signal error with the second digital signal samples within said third digital signal.
 6. The TI-ADC of claim 1, wherein the TSME determination circuit comprises: an interpolation circuit configured to generate a plurality of interpolated samples from the first digital signal; a comparison circuit configured to compare the plurality of interpolated samples to the second digital signal and identify a number of interpolated samples between a time of the second digital signal and a time of a closest one of the plurality of interpolated samples to the second digital signal; and a conversion circuit configured to generate the time error from said identified number of interpolated samples.
 7. The TI-ADC of claim 6, wherein the interpolation circuit comprises: an upsampling circuit configured to upsample the first digital signal; and a filtering circuit configured to filter the upsampled the first digital signal to generate the plurality of interpolated samples.
 8. The TI-ADC of claim 7, wherein the filtering circuit is a polyphase circuit, and wherein the polyphase circuit is configured to generate the plurality of interpolated samples to include a limited number of interpolated samples located around the time of the second digital signal.
 9. The TI-ADC of claim 8, wherein the limited number is substantially smaller than a rate of the upsampling.
 10. The TI-ADC of claim 1, wherein the signal error is a first order estimation of an error in the second digital signal due to the time skew mismatch.
 11. A time-interleaved analog to digital converter (TI-ADC), comprising: a first sub-ADC configured to sample and convert an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; a second sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a first time skew mismatch; a third sub-ADC configured to sample and convert said input analog signal to generate a third digital signal, wherein sampling by said third sub-ADC occurs with a second time skew mismatch; a first multiplexor configured to interleave the first, second and third digital signals to generate a fourth digital signal; a first time skew mismatch error (TSME) determination circuit configured to process the first and second digital signals to generate a first time error corresponding to said first time skew mismatch; a second TSME determination circuit configured to process the first and third digital signals to generate a second time error corresponding to said second time skew mismatch; a second multiplexor configured to interleave the first and second time errors generate a time error signal; a slope extraction circuit configured to process the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; a multiplication circuit configured to multiply the time error signal by the slope value to generate a signal error; and a summation circuit configured to sum the signal error with the fourth digital signal to generate a digital output signal.
 12. The TI-ADC of claim 11, wherein the first, second and third sub-ADCs each sample at a sub-sample rate of a converter sample rate, but sample with a phase offset that is a function of a number of sub-ADCs which are included in the TI-ADC.
 13. The TI-ADC of claim 12, wherein the first multiplexor interleaves the first, second and third digital signals at the converter sample rate.
 14. The TI-ADC of claim 11, wherein the slope extraction circuit determines the slope value for second and third digital signal samples within said fourth digital signal.
 15. The TI-ADC of claim 14, wherein the summation circuit sums the signal error with the second and third digital signal samples within said fourth digital signal.
 16. The TI-ADC of claim 11, wherein each of the first and second TSME determination circuits comprises: an interpolation circuit configured to generate a plurality of interpolated samples from the first digital signal; a comparison circuit configured to compare the plurality of interpolated samples to the second or third digital signal and identify a number of interpolated samples between a time of the second or third digital signal and a time of a closest one of the plurality of interpolated samples to the second or third digital signal; and a conversion circuit configured to generate the time error from said identified number of interpolated samples.
 17. The TI-ADC of claim 16, wherein the interpolation circuit comprises: an upsampling circuit configured to upsample the first digital signal; and a filtering circuit configured to filter the upsampled the first digital signal to generate the plurality of interpolated samples.
 18. The TI-ADC of claim 17, wherein the filtering circuit is a polyphase circuit, and wherein the polyphase circuit is configured to generate the plurality of interpolated samples to include a limited number of interpolated samples located around the time of the second or third digital signal.
 19. The TI-ADC of claim 18, wherein the limited number is substantially smaller than a rate of the upsampling.
 20. The TI-ADC of claim 11, wherein the signal error is a first order estimation of an error in the second or third digital signal due to the first or second time skew mismatch, respectively.
 21. A method for time-interleaved analog to digital conversion, comprising: sampling and converting an input analog signal to generate a first digital signal; sampling and converting said input analog signal to generate a second digital signal, wherein sampling by said second sub-ADC occurs with a time skew mismatch; interleaved selecting of the first and second digital signals to generate a third digital signal; determining from the first and second digital signals a time error corresponding to said time skew mismatch; processing the third digital signal to determine a slope value of said third digital signal; multiplying the time error by the slope value to generate a signal error; and summing the signal error with the third digital signal to generate a digital output signal.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein sampling of the input signal to produce the first and second digital signals occurs with a phase offset.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein interleaved selecting is made at a rate of the sampling.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein processing to determine the slope value is performed for second digital signal samples within said third digital signal.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein summing comprises summing the signal error with the second digital signal samples within said third digital signal.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the time error comprises: generating a plurality of interpolated samples from the first digital signal; comparing the plurality of interpolated samples to the second digital signal; identifying a number of interpolated samples between a time of the second digital signal and a time of a closest one of the plurality of interpolated samples to the second digital signal; and generating the time error from said identified number of interpolated samples.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein generating the plurality of interpolated samples comprises: upsampling the first digital signal; and filtering the upsampled the first digital signal to generate the plurality of interpolated samples.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein filtering comprises performing a polyphase filtering to generate the plurality of interpolated samples to include a limited number of interpolated samples located around the time of the second digital signal.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the limited number is substantially smaller than a rate of the upsampling.
 30. The method of claim 21, wherein the signal error is a first order estimation of an error in the second digital signal due to the time skew mismatch. 